New Faces and a New Conference Push Swimming and Diving into 2013-14 Season; Retrievers Start Competition Saturday at Bucknell

BALTIMORE – Last season, the UMBC men's swimming and
diving program regained its America East Conference title by
scoring 1,075 points, a conference meet record, and earned its
first-ever national ranking. In addition, Mohamed Hussein
(Cairo, Egypt/Victory College) was named the National Swimmer of
the Week by CollegeSwimming.com and later became the first
Retriever male swimmer, and third overall, to qualify for the NCAA
Championships. On the women's side, UMBC finished second to
New Hampshire at the conference meet, but also made its first jump
into the national poll. But none of that now matters, in a
way, because the new season starts on Saturday.

"Last year was great, but this time around we need to take it a
step further," said head coach Chad Cradock, who is entering his
13th season in charge of his alma mater. "Our team is focused
on the task at hand and not previous accomplishments.

"This team has really adopted the unity and team spirit that we
started last year, which I believe is the key to our success."

It is important for the team to develop a family atmosphere
quickly as UMBC welcomed 29 freshmen to the squad this
season. The number of newcomers does not worry Cradock, but
rather gives him, his coaching staff and team more excitement
heading into the new season.

"We're excited to have all of the freshmen joining our team
because they bring a fresh feel to the program and a lot of
positivity," Cradock stated. "They have already made some
unique and smart decisions which are putting our program in a
shining light, and I'm proud of how they've integrated nicely into
our team."

"We're eager to watch each of our newcomers grow and become
major contributors to our program."

With all of the freshmen coming to campus, Cradock and his staff
have had plenty of veteran leadership to rely on both in the pool
and in the locker room. Even with the graduation of 19
seniors from the 2012-13 team, UMBC brings back 11 athletes who won
at lead one gold medal at last year's America East meet, including
Hussein who was named the America East Championships and ECAC
Championships Most Outstanding Male Swimmer.

Since coming to Baltimore, Hussein has taken the Retrievers'
competition by storm, claiming six individual conference golds in
the past two years America East meet, and winning 27 events in 15
dual meets. In addition to being honored as the national
Swimmer of the Week on Feb. 20, 2013, Hussein has received the
conference's top weekly honor on six occasions.

"Mohamed brings a sense of accomplishment to our team and he is
a leader by example," said Cradock. "He always give
100-percent in practice and he's just a happy guy that people enjoy
being around.

"Obviously having an NCAA qualifier on our roster is a positive
thing as it gives our team someone to aspire and grow with."

But the leadership does not run through one person for Cradock's
Retrievers as the men and women both selected three captains to
lead them through the upcoming campaign. Seniors Evan Carey
(Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./Grand Island), Brian Keane (Hanson,
Mass./Boston College HS/Arizona), and Reed Neuendorf (Blauvelt,
N.Y./Tappan Zee) will guide the men's squad, while seniors Patty
Hallberg (Severna Park, Md./Broadneck) and Erika Ronning (Western
Springs, Ill./Lyons Township), as well as junior Lexi Coon (Camden,
Del./Milford), were chosen to lead the women.

"We're very excited for our new leadership," said coach
Cradock. "Each individual is very different and brings
something unique to the position and to the program."

Last season, the three male captains combined to win eight dual
meet events as the Retrievers completed just their second-ever
undefeated season. Then, at the conference meet, Carey aided
the 200 and 400 free relay teams to gold medals, in addition to
winning silver medals in the 100 and 200 free, while Neuendorf
picked up a silver in the 400 IM and a bronze in the 1,650
freestyle.

For the women, Ronning collected a total of four golds after
winning six dual meet races and Coon earned her first career dual
meet event win. Combining leadership in the pool and in the
classroom, Hallberg was one of seven Retrievers to earn a spot on
the America East All-Academic Team in 2012-13.

In addition to the six captains, the Retrievers have plenty of
other accomplished veterans to lead them into the new season.

Junior Rob Breen (Danvers, Mass./St. John's Prep) collected his
first career gold medal last year while leading UMBC to a sweep of
the top medals in the 1,650 free. Breen also won silver in
the 500 free and bronze in the 200 and looks to pace the distance
squad again.

As a freshman, Leo Endres (Bamberg, Germany/Kaiser Heinrich
Gymnasium) vaulted himself to the top of UMBC's breaststroke list
by winning a gold medal in the 200-yd. event in school record time,
while also taking third in the 100-yd. competition. Mid-year
transfer Daniel Cano (Madrid, Spain/IES Ortega y Gasset) provides a
nice back-up punch after claiming silver in both of the
breaststroke races.

Lauri Kaei (Harjumaa, Estonia/Talllinn Secondary Science)
continued to cement his place as one of the Retrievers' go-to
swimmers after winning nine dual meet events as a sophomore and
then helping the Black and Gold win two relay golds at the
conference meet.

Though two-time captain and NCAA Zones qualifier Andrew Eckhoff
graduated in the spring, the Retrievers will still be strong on the
diving boards with the return of junior Ryan Green (Ellicott City,
Md./Centennial) and junior Carson Wong (Hong Kong/Kowloon Technical
School). Last season, Green joined Eckhoff at the regional
meet after scoring a career-best 318.08 against West Virginia,
while Wong finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 3-meter
and 1-meter events at the America East Championships.

The women also have a strong returning contingent of veterans to
hopefully push the Retrievers back to the top of the America East
leaderboard, including seniors Talor Tadena (Orangevale,
Calif./Bella Vista) and Klara Pavelkova (Prague, Czech
Republic/Gymnasium Pripotocni). Tadena earned five total gold
medals (two individual, three relay) last year as a junior, setting
a new UMBC school record en route to winning the top medal in the
100-yd breaststroke. Pavelkova, meanwhile, combined with
Tadena on the record-setting 200 medley relay team while also
breaking the school record and claiming the 100-yd. backstroke
title.

On the diving boards, sophomore Corinna Darelius (Rye, N.Y./Rye)
returns after a successful rookie campaign. As a freshman,
Darelius qualified for the NCAA Zones Meet, in addition to winning
four dual meet events, earning conference Diver of the Week twice,
and collecting a silver medal at the conference championships.

With this combination of youth and experience, Cradock is ready
for the season to start.

"We can't wait for the new season," the head Retriever
said. "This season looks really bright for us as we have some
great competition lined up during the dual meet season, but we're
even more excited for our conference meets at the end of the year
and enjoying them one at a time."

The 29 freshmen change the complexion of the team, but the
biggest alteration for this year's Retriever squad is the
post-season championships schedule. While the women will look
to overtake 2013 America East champion New Hampshire, the men have
moved to the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association (CCSA) which
will hold its championship meet at the University of Tennessee on
Feb. 20-22.

"Our women absolutely got a taste of the opportunity for success
by being so close last year," said Cradock. "I think it has
made them hungry to compete as the underdog this time around and
that sets us up well to achieve our desired success.

"For the men, this is a big year as a lot of our individuals
have grown and the CCSA meet will be the most competitive
atmosphere that our program has been in since I started coaching
here in 2001."

The Retrievers begin their 2013-14 schedule with an exhibition
meet at Bucknell on Saturday, Oct. 5. The next week UMBC will
travel to Lawrenceville, N.J. for its first dual meet of the
season.